


After Heaven

by Threshie



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel is Jack Kline's Parent, Crying Jack Kline, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Heaven, Jack Kline Feels, POV Sam Winchester, Playgrounds, Podfic Welcome, TFW are Jack's Dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-30 01:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16755442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Threshie/pseuds/Threshie
Summary: Jack returns from helping Heaven make new angels with his powers, and Sam, Dean and Castiel learn that he visited his mother while he was there.





	After Heaven

Jack was gone so long that they were beginning to worry. Heaven was in no position to attack him — they desperately needed his help — but Sam, Dean and Castiel had seen more than enough reasons not to trust them in the past. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon in the playground, the jungle gym and kiddie swings casting long shadows over the intricate sigils drawn in the sandbox.

“Cas, maybe you should go check on him,” Sam said, looking up from the sandbox. Dean was pacing over by the seesaw, and Cas had been sitting on one of the swings for the past several hours. 

Before the angel could reply, they heard fluttering feathers.

Jack landed near Sam and stumbled a few steps. The hunter turned and caught him by the arms to steady him — and then he got a good look at the kid’s face.

“Sam,” Jack whispered, his voice breaking. Sam kept a tight hold on his hands, alarmed at the tears streaming down his face.

“What happened, Jack? Did they hurt you?” He pulled the Nephilim into his arms as Dean and Cas hurried over. He could feel Jack shake his head, but his shoulders were shaking with sobs, too. Sam was hard pressed to believe that the angels hadn’t done something awful.

“Hey…it’s okay, we’ve got you, kid.” Dean had a hand on Jack’s back and was rubbing soothing little circles there. He exchanged a grim look with Sam. Heaven had yet more things to answer for.

“I’m…I’m n-not hurt,” Jack managed, voice hitching. He sat up to find Castiel resting a hand on his shoulder, too, all of his dads standing around him protectively. 

“Could’ve fooled us,” Dean said, leaning to get a better look at his face. “Just take a few deep breaths, okay?”

Jack looked at him and did his best to calm down. Dean breathed slowly along with him, patting his back. 

“There you go,” he said, when Jack’s sobs had quieted. “It’s okay now.”

“Can you tell us what happened, Jack?” Cas prompted gently. “Why are you crying?”

Jack looked from them up to Sam, who loosened up the hug and let him step back. The kid took one more deep breath, letting it out in a slow sigh.

“The angels let me see my mother,” he explained softly. “She…she’s very h-happy in Heaven.” The way his voice hitched and his eyes started to tear again made Sam think maybe that hurt him. 

“Isn’t that good, Jack?” He asked.

“Heaven is…your best memories,” the Nephilim said, trying to breathe slow again. Dean patted his back in encouragement. “Right?”

“Yes,” Castiel confirmed.

Jack sniffled and wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. It was such a childish gesture that Sam just wanted to hug him again, but he held back.

“H-her Heaven is…my nursery.” He was starting to sob again, hanging his head. “She lived a good life — I saw her memories before I was born — but her h-happiest moment was when she was with ME.”

“She loves you very much,” Cas said warmly.

Dean was frowning, though.

“Didn’t the angels let you talk to her?” He asked. “You CAN, you know, Jack.”

“I know,” the Nephilim replied, wiping at his eyes again. The words came out small and watery. Again, Sam wanted to hug him, but didn’t want to crowd him. “I-I couldn’t do it, Dean,” Jack confessed. “I watched her, and she was so happy, even though she knew she’d never meet me. I-I should love her even if I never talk to her, too, shouldn’t I?”

“But you could’ve,” Dean said, blinking. 

He didn’t get it. Sam did, though. Jack loved his mom the same way Sam had loved his own mother for so many years. Mary died before Sam was old enough to speak or really even remember her, but she and Kelly were the same type of woman — they’d die for their sons. It was a strange and ironic twist that Mary was alive again, and had been by Kelly’s side when she died.

When she brought Jack into the world.

“That’s a wise way to look at it, Jack,” Cas told the kid, smiling. “She’s happy, and that’s what’s important.”

Dean sighed. 

“And it’s nice to know she’s still loving you and thinking about you in Heaven, isn’t it, kid?” He asked Jack, mustering a smile as well. This conversation was hard for him, Sam figured, because of how Mary had retreated into her mind and ignored reality for a fantasy much like her Heaven had been — being mother to baby Sam and little 4-year-old Dean. 

This wasn’t brainwashing and denial, though — unlike Mary with her sons, Kelly had never met Jack. Heaven reflected your happiest moments, and Kelly still sincerely considered Jack one of the best parts of her life, and that was kind of beautiful.

The Nephilim was looking at Dean with a small smile, nodding and wiping at his eyes. Yeah, he’d be okay.

“Helping keep Heaven running keeps her soul safe and happy,” Sam said, smiling too. “And all of the other souls there. You did a great thing today, Jack.” 

Dean slapped the kid on the back. 

“Yeah you did, and we’re proud of you. How about we go get you some dinner? I want to hear all about how the angel-making went.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my fic! This is just a scene that occurred to me -- that if Jack went to Heaven to fix the angel shortage with his Nephilim powers, he could visit Kelly there. If Heaven's lights went out, Kelly's paradise would also be lost, so I'm sure he did it at least partly for her sake. Comments and kudos always appreciated! ♥


End file.
